Gampel Opens Cheering Section

Fans Gather For Big Game

STORRS — Even on an unseasonably cold April evening, the last place Simsbury's Bill Mickewicz wanted to be was curled up on the couch watching UConn play Tennessee in the national championship game.

Mickewicz, like many others, decided that the warmest and liveliest living room in Connecticut Tuesday could be found on the UConn campus.

With three oversized screens and a surround-sound system that would be the envy of even the biggest hi-fi geek, about 2,000 fans made themselves at home at Gampel Pavilion.

``This is a lot more fun that sitting on the couch,'' said Mickewicz, watching the game with his daughter Meagan, a UConn junior. ``I wouldn't pass up the excitement of being here. The band, the people, this is a great place to be tonight.''

Fans began streaming into Gampel about an hour and half before the scheduled 8:30 tipoff. They were greeted at the door by representatives of the UConn Student Union Board of Governors handing out and blue-and-white pompoms.

Six-year-old Mikaela Martell of Southwick, Mass., waved her pompoms with pride, exclaiming to anyone who would listen that she was there to see the Huskies.

``We came to the Supershow to start the season,'' her mother Julie said. ``Since they went this far, we figured we'd finish off the season here. It's about an hour drive from Southwick, but I figured why not be here for the excitement of this.''

The crowd roared to life during the pregame show when ESPN analyst Nell Fortner predicted a Tennessee victory, sending a raucous chorus echoing through the building. Those boos only became more intense when ESPN's Stacey Dales-Schuman also picked the Volunteers to win.

At 8:30 the pep band began playing the UConn fight song, raising a tide of blue-and-white pompoms bouncing in time with each note. As the song ended, the faithful showed they were sufficiently pumped up, rocking bleachers with thundering stomping.

The fever pitch was again raised when the lights went out at 8:37 for the start of the game.

And just as if the game was going on right there on the Gampel floor, the faithful stood and clapped at the opening tip, remaining on their feet until UConn's Barbara Turner made the game's opening basket, firing the Gampel crowd into a fury.

That sensation of being there continued throughout the game as fans raised their hands for every UConn free throw and crowed wildly before every Tennessee try at the line.

When Ashley Battle stole Tennessee's inbound pass to seal the victory, fans erupted into cheers that lasted for the two minutes, only quieting to hear coach Geno Auriemma's comments.

At the end, the overgrown living room took on the air of a concert hall as all in attendance joined in a rousing singalong of Queen's ``We Are The Champions'' as the lights were raised.